MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
The Chinese are very flexible with the truth to put it very mildly.
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Interesting comment and wording from China:
5 June 2022
Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe reiterated Beijing's position on the crisis. "On the Ukrainian crisis, China has never provided any material support to Russia," he said, adding that it supported peace negotiations and "NATO will have talks with Russia".
"...the Ukrainian language, history and religion are made up..."
*palmface*
Russia needs to be reminded that their history comes from the Kyevans - their religion was introduced by Vladimir the Great, who also introduced the Bulgarian's Cyrillic language to Kyevans.
Russia's Peter the Great may have reformed their Cyrillic, but it's not their innovation - it's Bulgarian by way of Ukraine.
Dumbasses...
That was done. Also, most of the troops left barracks for the "exercises".He may have done what the Poles did when they knew the germans would be coming soon - move mobile units and aircraft out of their standard bases/depots to reserve/hidden places.
Aircraft, SAMs, mobile radars, boats, etc. Mockups were left in some places. There were many movements. The whole picture will be revealed after the war.Weren't Ukrainian planes relocated? I recall reading that the UAF had dispersed some of their planes.
They need artillery and shells. They're not short in manpower.Does Ukraine have more troops in training?
They need artillery and shells. They're not short in manpower.
Where is all the heavy weaponry the West promised?
I've been following events and perhaps too many YouTube vids. President Zelynskyy has said Ukraine has been suffering about a hundred casualties a day. We're past the hundred day mark. I've watched vids pointing out Russian formations are seriously undermanned or under crewed and certainly undertrained. This had seriously degraded the Russian Army. Ukrainian forces have been fighting fiercely in the Sievierdonetsk, Popasna, Kharkiv and other regions I can't spell. Just how tired are these guys? At the start of the war, I think I heard UAF had about 280,000 troops. What percentage of that number were combat arms? Are their casualties being replaced with trained troops or (shudder) conscripts? There has been a lot of artillery battles and the Good Guys must have taken losses.They need artillery and shells. They're not short in manpower.
Where is all the heavy weaponry the West promised?
Of the top off my head, training before the deployment in May-June: M777 1-2 weeks, M109 and CAESAR 2-3 weeks, Panzerhaubitze 2000 - 6 weeks at least.I suspect many are already in UKR, but that training the arty corps while it is so busily engaged is proving difficult.
Hey Admiral Beez,
re "Which is the real reason Russian wants eastern Ukraine. To steal Ukraine's oil and to prevent the EU from gaining a gas-rich member."
FWIW, I agree that is most likely part of it. I have been wondering if it is a combination of the following factors (not in order of importance).
1. Spite and pride, involving many things, including that Ukraine's (pre-war) living standard was on its way to significantly surpass Russia's in the next few years.
2. Putin and friends, and the oligarchs, may have exploited Russia's own people and economy to its practical limits. Hence they are looking for external material for exploitation. War is, after all, usually good for the economy (as long as your country is not the one being destroyed).
3. To prevent the Ukraine taking a significant amount of Russia's share of trade with Europe (particularly involving Ukraine's growing petroleum industry) - exacerbating item #2 above..
4. Old men in power, old men who's minds are degrading and regressing to wishful thinking about the good old days, and how they could have been a contender if only . . . Also possibly linked to item #1 above, as many old people become fixated on past real or imagined affronts to their real or imagined sensibilities. The apparent willingness of Russia to destroy entire cities and manufacturing centers, and food sources, strikes me as an example of the spite and/or temper tantrum equivalent of "If I can't have it, I will make sure you can't have it either".
I do not buy that Putin is actually ignorant enough to be afraid of NATO in an existential sense. As long as Russia has an effective nuclear arsenal, there is no way that NATO can be a military power based existential threat to Russia - at least not unless it is a suicidal one. And if the West was interested in implementing a MAD scenario there would be no need for comparatively little things like expansion of NATO.
Just some thoughts.
Given the necessity and limits of logistics, it would seem that any MRLS, SPGs and AFVs promised to Ukraine today won't be in the UAF's frontline hands until at least 90 days. In that sense, the dithering of the US and West may be fatal for the Ukranians. The time to send mobile artillery, counterbattery weapons, etc. was in March, so they arrived now. Instead, we have the US, for example, agreeing only on May 31st to send MRLS to Ukraine - more than three months after the Russian invasion began. Those Gepard mobile air defence vehicles promised by the Germans won't be armed and their crews trained and deployed to the front until likely August.Logistics 101…
Given the necessity and limits of logistics, it would seem that any MRLS, SPGs and AFVs promised to Ukraine today won't be in the UAF's frontline hands until at least 90 days. In that sense, the dithering of the US and West may be fatal for the Ukranians. The time to send mobile artillery, counterbattery weapons, etc. was in March, so they arrived now. Instead, we have the US, for example, agreeing only on May 31st to send MRLS to Ukraine - more than three months after the Russian invasion began. Those Gepard mobile air defence vehicles promised by the Germans won't be armed and their crews trained and deployed to the front until likely August.
Why is the US sending the MRLS now and not earlier? And really, is there any point in sending them now if they won't be in UAF frontline hands until early Sept? By then this war will be decided. For the most part, logistics cannot be expedited, there's no Genie, as you say, but the beginning of the train can and should have been executed earlier.
And really, is there any point in sending them now if they won't be in UAF frontline hands until early Sept? By then this war will be decided.
I wouldn't be so sure about that.
And remember, Ukraine does not have to destroy Russia's military to win. It just has to outlast the Russian's. That's another good reason we have to keep sending equipment as we can. This is pretty much a war of attrition. If we can resupply Ukraine faster and replace their equipment faster than Russia (which I think we are doing), Ukraine can outlast Putler. His day's are numbered.
Why send them now and not earlier?
1. Hindsight is 20/20
2. You can't simply snap your fingers and send equipment. It's not like renting a movie from Blockbuster. Everything has to be approved. The US's military needs have to be evaluated and it has to be determined that it will not deter or undermine the US's capabilities and operational needs.
What makes you think the US, Germany, anyone can just send stuff at a whim whenever they like? There is a process to everything. It takes massive coordination and funding.
War is fluid, and constantly evolving. Operational needs change, and its impossible to send everything and anything at one time and at anytime you want.